WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 Walkthrough & Strategy Guide

The Undertaker's story centers around his undefeated streak at WrestleMania, and of course the fact that he wants to keep it going. Still, you'll have three months until WrestleMania, and plenty of tune-up matches along the way.

Match 1

You vs. Santino Marella. Easy match; use it to get accustomed to Undertaker's move set. Although this match is easy, take it nice and slow: try to prolong it to around the four- or five-minute range. You want to delay things here because...

Match 2

You vs. Finlay. An optional goal here is to beat Finlay in a faster time than you beat Santino, so try to end this one quickly. If you messed around in your match against Santino, it should be a breeze. Doing so unlocks Hornswoggle as a non-playable manager!

Match 3

You vs. Great Khali. You're unfortunately destined to lose this one, or at least not win the title due to interference.

Match 4

You vs. Edge. After Santino and Finlay blather a bit, you'll be jumped by Taker's long-standing rival, Edge. This causes your torso to be yellow to start the match, but the disadvantage should quickly be overcome by Taker's superior attacking ability.

Match 5

You vs. Santino & Finlay. Ah, the first match that poses a good challenge! The matches uses tag rules, so you'll only need to deal with one of them at a time. Your opponents bring out Taker's urn, which has the magical effect that it makes Taker's entire body turn condition yellow, and his stamina to be so low that all attacks will do minimal damage. Uh oh.

Try to keep your opponent isolated in the opposite corner. Throw him out of the ring now and then to disrupt his momentum if things get sticky. Try to disallow him to ever tag out. Work on his head repeatedly with any move in your arsenal, and set him for the Triangle Choke finisher. The Triangle Choke will work fast enough that the illegal man won't have time to run in and disrupt it, so it's really your best shot at winning this one.

Match 6

You vs. Kane. The mandatory goal for this match is to use the Tombstone Piledriver twice to Kane to break his trance. This should be simple enough, as Kane is strong enough to withstand an early Tombstone and not lose; Taker doesn't even bother attempting a pin. After you do the second one, the match will automatically be over, and you'll gain yourself a tag team partner!

Match 7

Kane (w/ you) vs. Finlay (w/ Santino). You won't be directly involved in the match here, but you do represent Kane's manager. You can cause some havoc here by beating up Santino left right and sideways outside the ring, but it's basically all for naught. Eventually Santino will get in the ring and draw a disqualification. You can slide in and help Kane beat up the heels for a bit, but the post-match cut scene is what's important here.

You vs. Finlay. You'll get the optional goal here that you need to make Finlay bleed in the match. Taker's Tombstone Piledriver is great for this, but there is a chance that you'll execute it and not cause blood. If that happens, break the pin and try it again. Taker's Big Boot striking attack (Down + Strike) can cause blood too, and may be a better option since you don't need a full momentum bar to do it. Either way, you'll want to target Finlay's head with practically every move you do; this will make it quicker to get his head health to red, and quicker for him to bleed. Fulfilling your goal nets you the Brothers of Destruction tag team entrance animation, so you can use it with other teams.

Match 10

You & Kane vs. Santino & Finlay. This match is a hardcore tornado tag team match. This means there are no disqualifications (i.e., weapons are allowed), you can make pins outside the ring, rope breaks are off, and everyone is fighting at once. Fun!

Kane can pretty well take care of himself, but the best strategy here is to stay near him anyway. If he runs into trouble, you can quickly turn around and help him out. As long as he's doing all right though, you can concentrate on one opponent.

Weapons are useful but not necessary due to Taker's overwhelming power. Finlay has a predisposition to grab them though, so you may want to keep him disrupted so he can't use them. Of course, if you never let him leave the ring to get one, all the better!

NOTE

BEFORE STARTING THE NEXT MATCH, SAVE YOUR PROGRESS IN A SEPARATE FILE SLOT, AND DON'T OVERWRITE THIS COPY. THIS WILL MAKE IT A BIT EASIER FOR COMPLETING YOUR UNLOCKS.

Match 11

You vs. Santino. You can choose your opponent for this match, but we went with Santino because he's a heck of a lot easier to deal with. This match is a ladder match and favors Undertaker's superior hardcore skill.

The best tactic we found is to beat on Santino to weaken him. Then, do the controlled grapple chokeslam with Left + Power Grapple, then press up. Taker will lift Santino up in the chokeslam, but you can still walk around. Walk over to the ropes facing them, then press down. Taker will chokeslam Santino out of the ring entirely, giving you ample time to set up the ladder and make progress on getting the urn down.

You won't be able to do this in one shot. When Santino gets back in the ring, release the sticks, then hop down from the ladder. Chokeslam him out of the ring again, and repeat.

Match 12

You & Santino vs. Finlay. After a rather amusing cut scene, the match winds up being 2-on-1 in your favor. You'll be able to absolutely trash Finlay with ease.

Match 13

You & Santino vs. Rey Mysterio. You've still got Santino possessed, and have a match against Rey. The point here is to intentionally lose to humiliate the Santino/Finlay team, but it's a challenge because Santino's attacks are stronger than normal.

You still directly control Undertaker, but if you press and hold the Strike button and Santino is standing still, he will be stunned. Also, if you charge up Taker's momentum meter with taunts then hit the indicated button, you'll make Santino hurt himself. Use both tactics, you'll give Rey a chance to beat the tar out of him. When Rey wins, you'll get Santino's zombie form as an alternate costume for use in exhibition matches!

Match 14

You vs. Finlay. Standard singles match, no surprises.

Match 15

You vs. Boogeyman. This match is in a Hell in a Cell match, but outside of the gimmick, this one is simple. Boogeyman doesn't possess any superpowers or anything, and there are no special bonus goals. It's in your best interest to simply beat the crap out of Boogeyman as you have all the other singles matches, and you'll easily take him out. In fact, if you just want to get it over with, you can ignore the cell entirely and just fight the whole match in the ring.

Clearing the story out will unlock Boogeyman as a playable character. Note that you should resume from your alternate save file, but choose Finlay as your opponent in the ladder match. Then, you can get the zombie version of him as well.